


Hands Were Made to Move

by costumejail



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: (offscreen smoking), Adopted Children, Background Poly, Domestic Boyfriends, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Sign Language, Smoking, gee kobra how come the witch lets you have two boyfriends, i cant accurately tag whatever neurodivergence kobra and the girl have bc im projecting, not actual brushing but its the closest tag for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:34:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24832435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/costumejail/pseuds/costumejail
Summary: Not a perfect night in the diner, but just about as close as you can get.
Relationships: Agent Cherri Cola & Motorbaby | Grace (Danger Days), Agent Cherri Cola/Fun Ghoul/Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Agent Cherri Cola/Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Fun Ghoul & Motorbaby | Grace (Danger Days), Fun Ghoul/Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Kobra Kid & Motorbaby | Grace (Danger Days)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 35





	Hands Were Made to Move

**Author's Note:**

> Just a few warnings for this one, from the tags:  
> \- Smoking as a coping mechanism/way to calm down  
> \- The barest hints of a self-deprecating spiral/internal monologue  
> \- One character is having a bit of a shutdown but it's through the eyes of someone who doesn't understand what's happening

When Cherri Cola’s fingers pulled in the Girl’s hair again, she squirmed just a bit, making a noise of displeasure.

“Sorry, baby,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her head. “Almost done.”

The Girl nodded and tried to stay still as Cherri carefully detangled her curls, but within a minute she was fidgeting again. This time, her fingers found a loose thread at the knee of her jeans and she pulled at it until it came free, then she pulled at the next one, and the next one, and the next one, until-

“Jet’s not gonna be so happy if they come home and you’ve turned your pants into a pile of scrap thread,” chided Cherri gently.

Even though Cherri couldn’t see it, the Girl’s face flushed and she looked down at her hands where they were twisted in her lap. Her thoughts clouded with shame, shame, _shame,_ and she could feel a lump growing in her throat. The jingle of Cherri’s dog tags interrupted the Girl’s train of thought as he dropped them into her lap.

“They won’t be mad, Girlie. But just because your hands were made to move doesn’t mean they have to destroy things. And we gotta be careful with stuff that’s harder to replace.”

“Sorry,” whispered the Girl. She clenched the dog tags in her hands, feeling the dull edge cut into her palm. Then she rubbed her thumb around the edge, noting the nicks and flat spots. While the Girl played with the tags, it was easier for her to sit still and let Cherri finish detangling her hair.

“Nothin’ to apologize for, sweetheart. Now, I know we said braids, but Jet’s best at those and I don’t want to hurt your…” The Girl stopped paying attention as the Kobra Kid entered the main room, followed closely by Fun Ghoul. At the sight of the Girl and Cherri, Kobra turned to sit at the counter, facing away from Ghoul as he climbed onto the stool next to Kobra’s.

“Babe, I- C’mon. Don’ short ou’ on me like tha’,” Ghoul was saying, but the Girl’s focus was ripped away when Cherri tapped her shoulder.

“Sunshine? Twists or knots?” 

The Girl thought for a moment, digging the edge of one of the dog tags under her thumbnail as she considered the options. “Knots.”

“Alright. Can you go grab your oil?”

The Girl jumped up from her place on the floor and scampered to the bathroom. It took her a minute to locate the bottle of oil they used to keep her and Jet Star’s hair healthy. The bottle was on the top shelf of the medicine cabinet, so the Girl had to climb onto the toilet, and then carefully balance on the edge of the sink to grab it. Once the bottle was in her hands, she jumped down from the sink and ran back to the dining room.

Cherri was kneeling next to Kobra’s stool, a concerned expression on his face as Kobra gestured wildly with his hands. Ghoul was watching over Kobra’s shoulder, but not hanging off of him like he normally would be. Cherri glanced away from Kobra as the Girl skidded into the dining room, bottle in hand, and made a few quick gestures towards Kobra before standing, running a hand through Ghoul’s hair, and heading over to the Girl. She watched Ghoul wave a hand in front of Kobra’s face, and Kobra turn to face him before Cherri started talking to her. It was hard to focus on Cherri while Ghoul and Kobra were doing... whatever they were doing with their hands, but the Girl gave it her best shot.

“All good, Miss The Girl?”

She waved the bottle of oil in response and Cherri took it out of her hands, then he sat down on the couch again. The Girl positioned herself back on the floor in front of Cherri and he began to run his hands through her hair, working the oil into her scalp. Normally, this would be the Girl’s favourite part of having her hair done, but a question was bouncing around her mind and it prevented her from relaxing.

“Is Kobra mad?”

Her voice rang out through the diner, louder than she meant it to, and Kobra and Ghoul looked over at her for a moment, before turning back to each other. Cherri hummed, which wasn’t really a response, so the Girl continued to watch as Ghoul and Kobra waved their hands at each other in turns. The Girl was starting to pick up on some patterns in their movements, repeated gestures and a certain rhythm to the way they were moving. Meanwhile, Cherri had begun to section and tie her hair off before he came up with a response to the Girl’s question.

“It’s nothing to ruffle your feathers over, sweetheart. He’s just not really in a talking mood.”

Nodding as much as she could while Cherri was twisting her hair into the requested knots, another question came to the Girl.

“But why?”

A longer pause followed the question, this time Fun Ghoul came over to sit on the floor in front of the Girl, with Kobra following him. Kobra leaned heavily onto Ghoul’s shoulder and Ghoul lightly rested one hand on Kobra’s bent knee.

“Y’know how sometimes y’ get upset?” Ghoul asked the Girl.

She tried to nod, but Cherri’s hand stilled her head before she messed up the knot she could feel him twisting up.

“An’ how sometimes you got too much on your mind or ya don’ know how t’ say what you’re feelin’ so you jus’ don’ say anythin’?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, sometimes th’ same thing happens t’ Kobes here.” Gently, Ghoul rubbed at Kobra’s knee.

“Ohhh,” the Girl marvelled at the realization. “But how do you stop not-talking? What if you have _grown-up_ things to do?”

Without lifting his head from Ghoul’s shoulder, Kobra waved his hands again, this time the Girl noticed him twisting his fingers a few times as he did so.

“What’s that?” The Girl interrupted whatever Ghoul had been about to say.

“He was showing you.” From over her shoulder, Cherri spoke up, “that’s sign language.”

“It’s like talkin’ with your hands,” explained Ghoul when the Girl’s confusion must have shown on her face. “With Kobes, we do a lotta th’ same things we do with you when you ain't talkin’. But sign makes ‘t easier t’ get th’ big ideas ‘cross.”

“I wanna learn!”

Still doing the Girl’s hair, Cherri chuckled. Ghoul laughed too, but Kobra didn’t. He raised one hand, clenched it into a fist, and then tapped his lips twice with two fingers.

“Babe,” Cherri stopped laughing.

With his fingers spread, Kobra touched his thumb to his chest, then shakily stood and walked out the front door of the diner.

“What did he say?” Still excited at the prospect of learning something new, the Girl missed the glance that Ghoul shot over her head at Cherri.

“‘E said he’s fine.” Ghoul smiled, although it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Oh. Can I still learn sign lag- lang- lan-”

“Language, babygirl.”

“That.”

Ghoul poked the Girl in the stomach, making her giggle and squirm, “Yeah, motorbaby. We c’n teach ya.”

While Cherri finished putting the Girl’s hair up, Ghoul taught her the basics of what he called “ZSL”. She learned the alphabet, a couple of basic questions, how to ask for help, and, with the promise that she wouldn’t use them around Party Poison, two or three swear words.

Eventually, the Girl felt Cherri finish tying her hair up, and as he leaned back he said, “You’re all done, _Reinita_.”

Finally released from the floor, the Girl shot up and ran to the bathroom to check out her newly styled hair. Ghoul appeared in the mirror behind her and picked her up, flipping her over his shoulder.

“Looks grea’, kiddo!” He enthused as he carried her out to the main room, bouncing with each step so the Girl swung wildly. She giggled excitedly, scrabbling in vain at Ghoul’s back as she tried to push herself upright.

“Ghoul,” Kobra’s dry voice brought the playful torment to a screeching halt. “‘F you keep her upside-down too long she’s gonna start walkin’ on her hands.”

Taking advantage of Ghoul’s shock, the Girl scrambled free of his grip and ran towards Kobra. She hesitated before throwing herself at him, remembering how upset he’d looked earlier. But Kobra didn’t hesitate to swing the Girl up into his arms and press kisses all over her face. He smelled like cold smoke and laughter bubbled up out of the Girl’s throat as she pushed his face away a bit.

“All better?” Asked the Girl.

Kobra cleared his throat before whispering, “All better.”

The Girl nodded solemnly, then started with an “Oh!” She wiggled until Kobra put her down. “Look what Ghoul taught me!”

Carefully, and looking to Ghoul and Cherri for assurance, the Girl straightened her thumb, index, and pinkie fingers, keeping the other ones held to her palm. She held her hand out towards Kobra and waved it back and forth slightly.

Kobra knelt with a soft smile and mirrored the sign back at the Girl. 

“She’s pretty good at it already,” smiled Cherri, bending down to press a kiss first to the Girl’s head, then to Kobra’s.

“My hands were made to move!” The Girl parroted Cherri’s words back at him.

“That they were, angel.”

“Well,” Ghoul joined in, “my hands were made t’ make sure little girls go t’ bed on time. C’mon squirt. They’ll be here in th’ mornin’.”

With an exaggerated grunt, Ghoul hefted the Girl up onto his hip and carried her first to Cherri, and then to Kobra so that they could collect their goodnight kisses. With minimal complaining,, the Girl allowed Ghoul to carry her to her bedroom. When he put her down, she climbed up onto the worn mattress that served as her bed and sat still while he tied a brightly coloured scarf around her head. Ghoul lay down and the Girl curled up into his side. 

“Alrigh’, _taamit_. Story ‘r song?”

“Story! I wanna hear the one about Party and Show Pony at Tommy’s with the fish cakes!”

“Tha’ one? You heard tha’ one las’ night!” Ghoul groaned, but even in the darkness, the Girl could hear his smile. “Fine. S’ once ‘pon a time…”

**Author's Note:**

> There's some things I wanna elaborate on here. I won't go too deep into them bc long notes aren't fun BUT:  
> \- The Girl is mixed Black! (So is Jet, for that matter) I'm white, so all the haircare stuff is based off of research and natural hair blogs so if there's any inaccuracies or I used like, problematic language regarding something pLEASE let me know so I can fix it!  
> \- The sign language described here is based on ASL, I am not Deaf/HoH so all the translations are from [lifeprint.com](lifeprint.com) and I'm really hoping that my grammar wasn't too off.  
> \- For those wondering, Kobra is saying (essentially) "I'm going to smoke" and then "I'm fine" and the Girl signs "I love you" at him  
> \- Cherri calls the Girl _Reinita_ which means 'Little Queen'/'Princess' in Spanish.  
> \- Ghoul calls the Girl _taamit_ which is the Serrano word for Sun ([according to this website](http://www.native-languages.org/serrano_words.htm)). This is a bit of a call to my hc of Ghoul as mixed Serrano and Mexican.
> 
> ALSO, general disclaimer that smoking to deal with your emotions isn't healthy! Don't start smoking if you don't already!
> 
> Hm. Longer notes that I really wanted. Oh well.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Leave a comment or [shoot me an ask](sleevesareforlosers.tumblr.com/ask) if you want! Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
